"The overwhelming strike votes show that Teamster members are in no mood for concessions. They are pissed off at their working conditions--and they are pissed off at the weak deals that the IBT has cut with the company behind closed doors," said Fred Zuckerman.

"The strike authorization gives Hoffa's negotiators the leverage they asked for; they better use it to grow some backbone or we are headed for a contract rejection, because 260,000 Teamsters at UPS and UPS Freight are not going to allow the employer to walk all over them for another five years," Zuckerman said.

UPS will make $6 billion in profits this year. There's no excuse for givebacks or weak contracts.